Com. v. Hodge, A. ( 2014 )

J-S48015-14
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee, :
:
v. :
:
ANTHONY PRESTON HODGE, :
:
Appellant : No. 1793 MDA 2013
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence September 3, 2013,
Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County,
Criminal Division at No. CP-21-CR-0002515-2012
BEFORE: DONOHUE, JENKINS and PLATT*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY DONOHUE, J.: FILED AUGUST 01, 2014
the judgment of
sentence imposed following his convictions of persons not to possess
firearms and recklessly endangering another person.1 We affirm.
the night of August 24, 2012, Brandon Stains, Adrian Rodriguez and Edward
girlfriend, Jessica Keck, with her ex-boyfriend, Jeff Vogt. Vogt and Keck
were at the bar with Hodge. Stains confronted Keck, and then he and his
friends left the bar. The three men briefly visited another bar and then
1
18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6105(a)(1), 2705.
*Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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Shortly after arriving home, Stains began to receive text messages
a n
began to walk there. In an effort to head off any trouble, Rodriguez and
West got into their car, followed Stains and tried to talk him out of the fight.
Stains would not listen to his friends, and so Rodriguez and West drove to
Rodriguez and West tried to deescalate the situation by talking to Vogt.
Both cars then left the park before Stains could arrive. While driving away,
however, Vogt passed Stains and then turned around and drove back toward
him. Vogt and Strains briefly exchanged words before Stains punched Vogt
-side window and a fight ensued. Hodge, who had
been in the back seat of V
and fired two shots toward Stains. Stains and Vogt continued to fight, at
which time Hodge hit Stains about the head and face with his handgun.
Keck, who was sitting in the passenger seat, exited the vehicle and ran away
upon hearing gunshots. Rodriguez and West, who were present but seated
who was bleeding heavily. They ultimately took him to the hospital where
he was found to have a broken nose and chipped front teeth, among other
injuries, and he received multiple stitches in his scalp and nose. As a result
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of his injuries, Stains now suffers from breathing problems. We also note
that during trial, the parties stipulated that Hodge has a previous conviction
that prohibited him from possessing a firearm.
The jury acquitted Hodge on a number of charges but found him guilty
of the above-mentioned crimes. The trial court sentenced him to three and
a half to seven years of imprisonment on the persons not to possess
firearms conviction and six to 24 months of imprisonment on the recklessly
endangering another person conviction. This timely appeal followed, in
which Hodge presents the following two issues for our review:
1. Was the evidence presented, at trial, sufficient to
convict [Hodge] of person not to possess, use,
manufacture, control, sell or transfer Firearms?
2. Was the evidence presented, at trial, sufficient to
convict [Hodge] of recklessly endangering another
person?
witnesses that render the evidence insufficient to support his convictions.
-13. This argument goes to the credibility of the
sufficiency, of the evidence. Commonwealth v. Gibbs, 981 A.2d 274, 282
(Pa. Super. 2009). As Hodge did not include challenges to the weight of the
evidence, as to either of his convictions, in his statement of questions
involved, he has waived these arguments for purposes of appeal. See
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Pa.R.A.P. 2116(a); Commonwealth v. Bryant, 57 A.3d 191, 196 n.7 (Pa.
Super. 2012) (noting that claims are waived for failure to include them in
challenge the weight of the evidence presented at trial in an oral or written
motion prior to sentencing or in a post-sentence motion will result in waiver
Bryant, 57 A.3d at 196. The record reveals that Hodge did
not challenge the weight of the evidence in an oral or written motion at any
time before the trial court; accordingly, even if Hodge had included
challenges to the weight of the evidence supporting his convictions in his
statement of questions involved, they still would be waived.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
Platt, J. concurs in the result.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 8/1/2014
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